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What's up everybody and welcome to
another episode of CNN 10. I'm Ryan
Young filling in for Core Wire. Hope
you're thriving on this Thursday,
September 25th. Your 10 minutes of news
starts now. We're going to start today's
show with one of the NFL's biggest young
stars having an even bigger impact off
the field. I'm talking about
electrifying Atlanta Falcons running
back John Robinson. You can catch him
running circles around his opponents on
the grid iron every Sunday. But when
he's not juking defenders and scoring
touchdowns, he's hard at work on a cause
near and dear to him, and that's
childhood literacy. After learning that
more than 40% of Atlanta's third grade
students were reading below grade level,
he started the Be John Reads program. I
got the chance to go one-on-one with Be
John as he transformed the Falcons home
stadium into a massive book fair and a
reading party. Take a look.
This is just such a blessing for me. um
not only just to put such an event like
this on but you know a lot of these kids
like you know for them to experience
reading and you know the literacy in
Atlanta has has fallen um in the past
year. So for me to like bring happiness
to them and want you know encourage them
to read and encourage them to just you
know forget about any anybody that's
judging him or forget about you know
sometimes the the technology and just
pick up a hard coverver book and have
fun with it. I can't wait.
But you're an NFL guy. Why care about
reading? Why do you want to inspire them
so they know about all the options they
have in life?
Yeah. So for me, you know, when I was a
kid, I I kind of struggled with reading
and, you know, when I was in third
grade, I was I wasn't trying to read
books. I was trying to play video games
and I was trying to, you know, do other
than, you know, become better and more
intelligent. So for me to, you know, be
here and to support all of them and make
sure that they're doing the right thing
by picking up the book early and just
instilling knowledge into themselves and
into their lives. Like that's what's
most important to me. You got to read
the playbook though, right? Don't you?
I do. I got to read the playbook. I got
to understand the playbook. I gota then
I got to go do it. So, okay. You know,
for them like if they can read and if
they can, you know, not just read it,
but like connect to it and and
understand with it, then that that'll
change their life.
What's the book that connected with you
when you were this age? Or what's the
book that sticks out to you right now
that may connect with them?
I read a lot of Dr. Seuss books. Um that
that was the one Judy Bloom like those
books were amazing. Um, Percy Jackson.
Love the Percy Jackson series. Well, I'm
about to read them a book.
Yeah. Yeah.
And it's called Be You.
And for me, like this book is so
important. It's by Peter H. Reynolds.
Okay.
Only because like, you know, I believe
all these kids are so unique in their
own way. And for me, like I I'm unique
in my own way. And if I can teach them
to just, you know, be expressive.
Before we go, the smile on your face, it
seems like it's paying you back. Oh,
yeah.
What does it feel like right now? Cuz
you're hearing these kids. What does it
What does that feel like,
man? I mean, I'm I'm so ecstatic. Like,
this is like so amazing. Um, you know, I
believed it was going to be like an
awesome event. But now that I'm seeing
like just how massive this really is and
all these kids being here and smiling
and, you know, being with each other,
like, man, I can't ask nothing more.
Time for 10-second trivia. How many
stitches are there on a regulation
baseball? 96 108 216
320.
If you said either 108 or 216, home run
a baseball features 108 double stitches
equal to 216 single stitches. And get
this, every Major League Baseball is
still handstitched.
Speaking of America's favorite pastime,
there's some striking news in the world
of Major League Baseball. Robot umpires,
they are getting called up to the big
leagues. But if you're picturing the
Iron Giant or Wall-E holding it down at
home plate, don't get your hopes up just
yet. Human umpires will still call the
shots, but teams will now be able to
challenge up to two calls per game using
an automated ball strike system, ABS for
short. The system has been used in the
minor leagues for years, but was just
approved by the MLB's competition
committee for use starting next season.
ABS saw its first major league action at
this year's All-Star game, where four of
the five challenges were successful. The
league hopes the system will help
minimize foul play. While umps called
roughly 94% of pitches correctly, more
than 60% of ejections last year were
from arguments over those calls. Here's
hoping the robo helpers will help turn
down the temperature at home plate,
leading to more play balls. Unless
you're out of here. The next story may
be the coolest thing you'll see all
week.
A massive 540 foot tall nuclear cooling
tower demolished in seconds with drones
providing some one-of-a-kind views. It
was destroyed during controlled
implosion at a site just outside of
Nashville, Tennessee. The tower was
built nearly 50 years ago as part of a
planned nuclear plant that never was
finished. The Tennessee Valley Authority
says it had become a safety hazard in
recent years due to unauthorized
visitors, but it won't be a pile of
rubble for long. The concrete and steel
will be recycled for use in future
projects.
Turning now from that big boom to a big
bloom. A monthsl long toxic algae bloom
is devastating South Australia's coral
reefs. The bloom is turning the normal
vibrant habitats into underwater
graveyards and its impact is being felt
both in and out of the water. Our Derek
Vanam has more.
Ecologists say the toxic algae bloom off
the coast of southern Australia is
devastating the marine life ecosystem
there.
It's hard to overstate how devastating
this uh algaal bloom has been. It has
really impacted the entire food web from
the habitat forming species like our
seaweeds and sponges and things that
make up these reefs all the way through
to the highest trophic levels. So, lots
of sharks, lots of rays. We've had
recorded over 10 white sharks washing up
uh on the beach. Lots of dozens of
species of rays.
An elol bloom is an intense
concentration of microalgae often fueled
by a marine heatwave. Since March, it
has killed more than 17,000 animals from
over 470 species of marine life.
According to observations on the citizen
science site by naturalists,
it's not only impacting sea species, but
also the people on land who depend on
the sea for their livelihood. And this
has just paralyzed uh the fishing
industry, the tourism industry, and just
the really devastated um the local
population. So, South Australians are
grieving right now. This is their really
beloved marine uh environment which has
been impacted and everybody everybody's
feeling it.
South Australia's premier Peter
Malinowcus visited the York Peninsula to
meet impacted communities. A week after
announcing 9.2 2 million US in aid
matched by the federal government.
I want to be really clear about this.
This is a natural disaster. I I don't
think I think politicians can do
themselves a disservice when they get
caught up in technicalities. This is a
natural disaster. It should be
acknowledged as such.
Scientists say worldwide marine heat
waves are increasing in size, duration,
and frequency.
So, we I think we can expect um to see
this occur elsewhere, and it's important
we don't treat it as a one-off um rare
occurrence.
[Applause]
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10 is
really exciting. An afterchool program
in Yuma, Arizona is helping students
swap screen time for pedal time.
Having cleared dots while while I'm
riding
that program was able to get its
kickstart with a donation of a dozen
bikes from Wheel Fun, an Arizona
nonprofit that provides free mountain
bikes to kids and underserved
communities. While the students are
learning a lot about safety and bike
maintenance, they are also lessons that
include math and science. As the kids
learn about the bikes and gear and speed
ratios,
they're looking forward to that one
thing part of their day, but then we're
able to connect how the science and
technology and mathematics that they're
seeing in class applies to the things
that they're passionate about.
Still, the mountain bike coach says the
main goal is having fun. gets them into
mountain biking and building their
confidence uh their physical fitness and
then those life skills they need um
through socialization and most
importantly getting them off the iPad.
Less screens, more speed. I love it.
Talk about gearing up for success. All
right, superstars. Time for our favorite
part of the show. Our first shout out is
going to Miss Lawrence at the Randolph
School in Huntsville, Alabama. We're so
glad you enjoyed yesterday's episode
about the Artemis program. And from our
Instagram followers, Miss C at the St.
Anthony School in Clarksville, Indiana.
Go Bears. Hope you had an amazing Friday
eve. We're almost there. Y'all remember
kindness is the one gift anyone can
give. We'll see you right back here
tomorrow. I'm Ryan Young and this is CNN
10.
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